The present invention relates to an autonomous mobile robot device and an avoidance method of that autonomous mobile robot device, for avoiding an obstacle, which can smoothly move in traffic, where human beings and various kinds of robots come and go, busily.
In recent years, a large number of developments are made on robots to be used within a life of a human being, such as, an office robot and a pet robot, but differing from an industrial robot of the conventional art. Those robots do works, such as, guidance, conveyance, guard, etc., while autonomously moving within a house or within an office, but not in a fixed facilities or accommodation. When they moves autonomously, for the purpose of safety, the robots must to move not collide upon a human being and/or things.
Conventionally, the robot is provided with a means for detecting the human being and the things or the like, in the direction of advancement, such as, an ultrasonic sensor or a laser radar, etc., and when detecting an obstacle, such as, the human being and the things or the like, in the near distance therefrom, it changes a path to an avoiding or roundabout one. However, there is a possibility that it moves into a same direction to that of a moving obstacle also trying to avoid that robot, and in such case, both of them are unable to avoid each other. Further, for the purpose of avoiding, if both the moving obstacle and the robot change the directions opposite to each other, at the same timing, then they also falls into be unable to avoid; i.e., during that time period, the moving obstacle and the robot come close to each other too much, and they need to make deceleration or stoppage for avoiding the collision therebetween.
For example, in the following Patent Document 1 is disclosed a technology of providing a means, for determining on whether an obstacle is a human being or not, with providing an infrared sensor for detecting an infrared ray irradiated from the obstacle, and in case where it is the human being, for sopping the robot for a certain time period, to wait until the human being go away in the direction of advancement, and restarting the movement after the leave of the human being.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. Hei 09-185412 (1997).